A terrified woman was strangled, had socks forced into her mouth and was hit with a golf club during a shocking attack by her former partner.
Martin Shaw subjected his vulnerable victim to a traumatic ordeal in her own home, during which she feared she would die. He then staged a three-hour rooftop stand-off with police, during which he threw roof tiles at officers, injuring one of them.
Now the 54-year-old thug, of Edendale Avenue, in Blyth, has been jailed at Newcastle Crown Court. The court heard the victim had been in a relationship with Shaw for around ten months but last April it ended after she accused him of assaulting her.
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He was released on police bail with a condition not to contact her but turned up at her home in Blyth on May 10 around 11am on his bike and with a golf club. He pushed her and she fell onto the sofa and floor and he hurled abuse at her then grabbed her and pushed her on the sofa again.
Uzma Khan, prosecuting, said: "He took her by the throat and said 'can you not breathe, can you not breathe'.
"She couldn't breathe and feared for her life. She felt weak and was losing her vision. He then forced something into her mouth. After this the argument continued with pushing and shoving and scratching."
Shaw then went on to hit the woman in the leg with the golf club and when she managed to run out of her home, he stole her purse and contents, including her bank card and £135 cash.
Police turned up and found her in a distressed state and she was taken to hosital and was found to have cuts, swelling, bruises and scratches to her face, neck, arm, hand, leg and nose and had lost multiple teeth.
Shaw pleaded guilty to assault on the basis he forcibly put socks and his fingers in her mouth and that she bit down and when he pulled his fingers out, it dislodged two of her teeth.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: "When he was strangling me he kept saying 'you better not ring the police' and kept saying I would have to face him in court, which really frightened me.
"I feel embarrassed to say it but when he kept strangling me I ended up wetting myself. I was so frightened, I just didn't know what he was going to do. I felt hopeless he was going to kill me.
"I genuinely cared for him and had feelings for him. Now I realise just how bad he was towards me."
The following day, police went to arrest Shaw at his home and found him on the roof, acting aggressively and shouting "I'm not going to prison for her". He threatened to harm himself with a knife and one officer noticed what looked like a detonator in his hand.
He then started throwing concrete roof tiles at police officers and vehicles. One officer was struck on the arm by a 5kg tile, which would have hit his head if he had not deflected it.
Negotiators were called out and he eventually gave up after three hours, at which point he was found to have two knives.
Shaw, who has 21 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, theft, assaulting an emergency worker and criminal damage. He was jailed for three years and given a restraining order.
Judge Edward Legard told him: "She suffered significant psychological damage as a result of what you did to her. This must have been a particularly distressing and frightening experience for her.
"She wet herself while being strangled and thought she was going to die. It was a cowardly, unprovoked attack and a very unpleasant offence of domestic violence. It was terrifying."
Shada Mellor, defending, said: "He has had struggles throughout his life which have very much impacted on him. He has schizoaffective disorder and has been sectioned previously."
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